The Information Controls Research Program (ICRP) (formerly known as the “Information Controls Fellowship Program) from the Open Technology Fund (OTF) supports applied research into how authoritarian governments in the most repressive information environments are restricting the free flow of information, cutting access to the open internet, and implementing censorship mechanisms; and the ways in which these threats to internet freedom may be countered. The Citizen Lab will be returning as a Host Organization for the 2026 ICFP program. Apply here.
Deadline: September 7, 2026.
Program Details
- Three, six, nine or twelve-month stipend available;
- Usually offered to postdoctoral and doctoral students, and experienced researchers with demonstrated ability and expertise;
- Monthly stipend of $7,000 USD;
- Travel stipend up to $5,000 USD, depending on the project (disclaimers below);
- Equipment stipend up to $5,000 USD, depending on the project (disclaimers below).
OTF accepts applications to the ICRP once per year. The 2026 application window is July 27, 2026 until September 7, 2026.
Funding awards are performance-based contracts signed directly with the applicant. Funding is dispersed upon completion of stated objectives, activities, and deliverables per a schedule outlined in the contract. All payments are made in U.S. dollars and will comply with local laws, regulations, and ethics rules.
Successful applicants can expect regular contact with both their host organization and OTF program manager. Monitoring consists of monthly reports and phone, email, or in-person discussions and consultations as needed. The adviser or responsible person at the host organization, in turn, provides a “traffic light” report to OTF evaluating the researcher’s progress.
Process
Stage 1: Submit a concept note by September 7, 2026 via OTF’s online application system.
Stage 2: Selected concept notes will be invited to submit a full proposal together with the proposed host organization via our online application system.
All applications are reviewed by the OTF team. The independent ICRP Advisory Council, comprising experts in the internet freedom space, conducts a final review of competitive proposals. Please review our Applicant Guidebook for additional information. The estimated earliest project start date is March 1, 2027.
Likely Candidates
Given the cross-disciplinary nature of research supported by ICRP, applications are open to people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines, including students at any level, and junior to mid-career practitioners who are unassociated with an academic institution.
Typically, ICRP researchers have extensive experience in fields of computer science, engineering, information security research, software development, social sciences, and data visualization, among others. To get a better sense of the ICRP community, you can read about researchers here.
Successful applicants must demonstrate how research outputs will be applied to the internet freedom community and/or how they will contribute to the development and improvement of internet freedom tools used in the most information restricted environments. We encourage applicants from all over the world, particularly people from the majority world and with experience living in repressive environments.
Eligibility
The following applicants are ineligible:
- Applicants (and/or their subsidiaries, affiliates, parent organizations, host organizations, etc.) engaged in the development, production, sale, and/or marketing of any surveillance software, hardware, or associated technology.
- Applicants listed as debarred, sanctioned, or otherwise excluded from receiving federal funds in the System of Award Management (sam.gov), the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), or any other US or international government sanction/debarment system.
Expected Research Outputs and Impacts
- Proposed projects should exhibit originality, substance, precision, and relevance to OTF’s mission to advance global internet freedom in the most information restricted environments.
- Research objectives should be ambitious, yet measurable and achievable with activities and milestones listed monthly.
- The overall project goals should extend beyond traditional audiences.
- Projects should include a technical component or technical output. For example, one researcher created a dashboard with internet shutdown data and analysis for others interested in the topic.
We recommend reviewing the projects of previous ICRP researchers to understand the types of outputs projects might produce.
ICRP at the Citizen Lab
The Citizen Lab co-founded the program with OTF and has been a host organization since its inception.
Unfortunately, while we look forward to reading proposals, we do not have the capacity to discuss potential applications with candidates prior to their submission to OTF.
- App Security & Privacy: Examining the privacy and security of mobile applications (apps) from technical, legal, and policy perspectives.
- Artificial Intelligence: Examining social bias, transparency, and accountability issues associated with artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
- To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada
- We Say You Want a Revolution: PRISONBREAK – An AI-Enabled Influence Operation Aimed at Overthrowing the Iranian Regime
- Bots at the Gate: A Human Rights Analysis of Automated Decision Making in Canada’s Immigration and Refugee System
- Censorship: Examining how online censorship and content moderation work at a technical level, as well as the impact of these restrictive practices on civil society.
- Digital Transnational Repression: Exploring the methods and impacts of digital transnational repression on exiled activists and civil society.
- Disinformation: Bringing clarity to the mechanisms, motivations, and actors behind online disinformation campaigns, and examining policy responses from governments and tech companies.
- Law & Policy: Analyzing laws and policies related to digital technology and their impacts on human rights.
- (Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion Under Bill C-22, An Act Respecting Lawful Access
- Unspoken Implications: A Preliminary Analysis of Bill C-2 and Canada’s Potential Data-Sharing Obligations Towards the United States and Other Countries
- Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Surveillance Negotiations Raise Constitutional and Human Rights Whirlwind Under U.S. CLOUD Act
- Mass Surveillance: Identifying the technical, institutional, and commercial foundations of mass surveillance and examining its human rights implications.
- Targeted Surveillance: Investigating abusive surveillance against journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and civil society.